Shopping for quality Peruvian alpaca products while sipping a glass of French wine? Now it’s possible--and I don’t mean online. Recently, two Aracari team members, Caroline and I, had the opportunity to visit the Concept Store “Cajamarca 219” in Barranco, which opened last year in 2014. Set down a quiet street in the Bohemian district of Lima, this new addition to the neighborhood is one-of-a-kind in the area and worth a visit, especially if you’re in the market for high quality clothing or furniture made from alpaca (although they sell other things as well). The store and its products are the creation of Thibault van der Straete, a French designer based in Peru. He designs and produces articles of clothing such as sweaters, scarfs, slippers and vests using pima cotton and alpaca wool, handspun and hand-woven. In addition to the staple alpaca sweater, the store sells rugs, pillows, sofas and other homeware created from vintage woven alpaca ponchos beautifully stitched together forming patterns of patchwork and stripes. Der Straete is not a newcomer to Peru. In fact, his first trip was over 20 years ago, when he was inspired by the colors, scenery, people and their traditions. After becoming familiar with traditional weaving of alpaca wool, he began to use alpaca fabrics, woven in the Peruvian Andes, in his fashion collection. Everything is made in Peru with Peruvian materials. Originally focused on exporting, sending sofas, rugs, and clothing to Europe and Japan, Der Straete’s collection of alpaca products are now, not only available in stores in London, New York, Japan and elsewhere in Europe, but have a homebase in Lima, where the designer has been living since 2008. The entrance to the Concept Store is a hallway with art, design and lifestyle books for sale as well as their own

Yesterday I had the opportunity to check out the inauguration of Lima Photo 2015 which runs until this Sunday, August 16th from 2-9pm. Set up similarly to Art Lima, it was hosted in the Centro de la Imagen in Miraflores and consisted of many small rooms representing the various galleries. It was quite a labyrinth to navigate but I think I visited every one! There are over 25 galleries showing work at Lima Photo from many different countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Uruguay, Venezuela, United States and, of course, Peru. At the door, visitors are given a floor map, which made finding particular galleries much easier. The participating galleries are: 80m2 Livia Benavides, Aluna Art Foundation, Carlos Caamaño Proyecto Fotográfico, Cecilia González & Denise Dourojeanni, Corkin Gallery, Del Infinito, Del, Paseo, Diego Ortiz Mugica fotografías, Enlace Arte Contemporáneo, Galería El Ojo Ajeno, Galería Forum, Galería Impakto, Galería Lucía de la Puente, Galería OKYO, Galerie Younique, Gonzalez y Gonzalez, Imaginario Galería de Arte, LA GALERÍA, Prima Galería de Arte, PSH Projects, Quimera, Revolver Galería, Rolf Art, Vértice Galería de Art, Y Gallery, and Atelier Fotolaser. Inside was not only great for seeing what you came for, photography, but also people-watching as the crowd ranged from famous faces in Lima’s art world to photography students and everyone in between. Something I really enjoy about this type of event is the accessibility of the art. There was someone representing each gallery--many times the artists themselves--with whom you can engage in conversation about the pieces being shown. In addition, the photographs are available for purchase. American Express was sponsoring an initiative to encourage the purchase of national and international contemporary photographs where 25 photographs costing $1000 were marked and available to buyers interested in starting or adding to their collection. The